PRESSINFO

text by Ulrich Haas-Pursiainen
EUROPE is facing strong and powerful movements towards centralisation of economy and politics. People are willing to sacrifice symbols of national identity just to join the global party. Media are involved in this process, are part of it. Media are mainstream, international LIVESTYLE, global mega-culture and a  MEGA-DRIFT towards the centre and the icons of WEST. How will outsiders and those on the periphery participate in or react to that movement and what are the main concerns and opportunities for those out there ? AND ART ? Are we following the howl of triumph by producing and spreading masses of uniform images worldwide, or is there (still) a chance for laughter in front of the Emperors new clothes ? Backlight is a photographical term but also as a symbol it covers the main idea of our event: Backlighted subjects appeares underexposed !	BACKLIGHT wants to focus on: - Periphery and regions - avantgarde and underground, and its challenges(!) in the titanic track of the mainstream. - laughter at standardized postmodern-global-monaco-reality. - European artists, their experiences and visions - open minded. - minorities, their colours and cultures. - migration and inspiration in Europe. - regional identity, language and symbol production. - youngsters social reality and creativity in the backlight of fashion and personality design. - non-christian culture and identity in Europe. - ecology and pollution control in the backlight of the global economy and competition.	BACKLIGHT opens the stage for a visual dialogue on contemporary questions and visions. It is a synonym for "out of concept-images" and for authentic experiences.
New documentary We are facing a situation, where essential images more and more get disconnected from any kind of authorship or so called "personal view".   The classic concept of individuality and identity has been put in the shade (backlighted) by the development of centralized media-reality. "New documentary" at the end of the millineum is a questionmark after 400 years of celebrating the cult of personality and signature.	Mars explorer / luggage control / Lady Diana: new documentary images are no longer made by individuals or from a privileged viewpoint (the idea of the central perspective as the program of photography) but they are more and more designed in an perspectiveless hyper space and in automatic camera programes. The postindustrial image-concept appears more and more as a kind of self-reflection (feedback) of media itself. The process of disconnection in cyber-images is following the standards of editing programes. The result is hyper-reality, a virtual concept of the world, a virtual view of life. Reality in postindustrial society is like a film,- but when the film tears up, or when the program runs out of control, the authenticity of the screen appears. The civilized (hyper-) world is surrounded with a big ocean of new ideas, The ancient Greeks called it chaos. We are working for a project of "new documentary" which will run on the Nykyaika.	BACKLIGHT is in cooperation with: Arts Council of Pirkanmaa National Council for Photographic Art City of Tampere Tampere University Tampere School of Art and Media Embassies International cultural Institutiones